BBA Academic Honors

Academic Honors (Graduation with Distinction/High Distinction)

For the purpose of determining academic honors for BBAs, two calculations are done - one with all courses taken during residence at Ross, and one with only Ross business courses taken during residence at Ross. Students who qualify for honors under either calculation will receive their degree "With High Distinction" or "With Distinction.” The University posts the award on the transcript and diploma when the degree is conferred. The point conversions for honors for all BBA students range as follows:

• High Distinction: 3.600 and above
• Distinction: 3.200 to 3.599

Note that grades earned on a Pass/Fail grading basis are not included when calculating academic honors. Class rank is not computed.

Honor Societies

Beta Gamma Sigma

Beta Gamma Sigma is an international honorary business administration society. Membership in Beta Gamma Sigma is the highest international recognition a student can receive in an undergraduate or master’s program in business or management accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business.

To be eligible for membership, a student must meet one of the following requirements:

upper 10 percent of the Junior class

upper 10 percent of the Senior class

upper 20 percent of the graduating Master class

GPA calculations are completed in February of each year and students are notified by early March via email of their eligibility. Students who wish to join the society must fill out the on-line application attached in the email and forward the required fee to the address provided. Beta Gamma Sigma contacts eligible candidates for admission.

Phi Beta Kappa

Phi Beta Kappa, founded in 1776, is the oldest honorary scholastic society in America. Up to four percent of the year’s graduating seniors in the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts are elected annually. Transfer students with superior academic records in the liberal arts may also receive invitations to join.

Outstanding BBA seniors are likewise eligible, as are outstanding seniors in other schools and colleges who have earned a minimum of 60 Michigan term credits taken in the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts and who have achieved a GPA of 3.800 and above in both LSA and the Ross School of Business. Invitations to membership in the national Phi Beta Kappa Society are issued by the local chapter, taking into account achievement in the liberal arts as indicated by a student’s cumulative grade point average, strength of curriculum, demonstrated proficiency in foreign language and mathematics, and other factors.

The selection committee looks for evidence of both breadth and depth of interest in the liberal arts and sciences. A very high GPA alone is not a guarantee of election to Phi Beta Kappa. Fourth term proficiency in a language other than English (the equivalent of the LSA language requirement) is required, as is graded work in a sufficiently advanced quantitative area. Elements that can mitigate against an invitation include a large amount of pass/fail work, an entire distribution area taken pass/fail, more than one or two semesters of fewer than four academic courses of at least three credits each, and repeated semesters with light course loads.

Recommendations of eligible students are forwarded in February of each year to the LSA Honors selection committee for their final evaluation. For information, email phibetakappa@umich.edu.

Delta Sigma Pi

The Delta Sigma Pi professional fraternity awards a Scholarship Key to the top graduating BBA senior in the Ross School of Business. The student must be on the April graduation list and have the highest cumulative GPA in that graduating class. This “key” is an honorary award with no costs or contingences attached. In late May, Academic Services works with DSP to contact the eligible candidate via email. See the DSP website for further details: http://www.dspnet.org/.